Apple promotes China to first wave of markets in iPhone 6s launch

A new wave of iPhone is hitting Apple's largest market-China. Ever since the launch of the pink iPhone 6s on September 12th, my friends in China, especially ladies, started to post their new gifts either from boyfriends, husbands, or parents. What makes Apple products, particularly iPhone 6s, so popular in China? This week's article solves the puzzle.

In a telling sign of the times, Apple announced Wednesday that China will be among the first wave of markets to get its new iPhone 6s smartphones on September 25. Apple also said that transit information in its Maps app will be available in more than 300 cities in China, including Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the country’s three major carriers — China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom — are expected to continue to support iPhones (now including the 6s) on their 4G/LTE networks. Apple truly understands who to cooperate with. The three giants of telecom carriers in China will open up the market widely because they almost cover the entire telecommunication network and services in China.
Although there are launching markets for the iPhone 6s in Asia, such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, none of them presented a purchase-ability that is as strong as in China. Take India as an example, with about the same size of population, “it is expected to be the second-largest smartphone market behind China by 2017”, but still lagging behind as the sales record is not decent.

Another important feature that attracts China consumers is that “Apple offered a nod to China during the iPhone keynote when it included the country’s most popular mobile messaging app, WeChat, in a demonstration of how its new 3D Touch display technology works, showing how a user could launch straight into WeChat’s “iSight Camera” mode from the iPhone 6s home screen.” As WeChat became the most popular mobile messaging app ( I would say it outperforms WhatApp), Apple make the target so clear that it want to utilize the advantage of cooperating with WeChat to broaden its market range and aggrandize the market size.

Aside from the technical advancement, the most crucial marketing strategy that Apple used on the iPhone 6s is the innovative color- Rose gold. “The new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in rose gold have drawn significant attention in China already, “according to a news report, with the new color aimed at making an impact on the over-saturated smartphone market in China. The release of gold-colored iPhones led the current trend, with the introduction of rose gold likely to duplicate the success and seize the attention of Chinese women in particular. It has been a trend that Chinese ladies prefer pink over any other color, with the fact that they prefer iPhone over any other cellphones, the sales of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is unlikely to disappoint Cook. The marketing strategies that Cook uses seem simple, yet sophisticated and efficient. Simply by changing the color and releasing advertisements, Cook has successfully enlarged the appetite of Chinese consumers and generated lucrative profits for Apple.

Sources: 
http://venturebeat.com/2015/09/10/apple-promotes-china-to-first-wave-of-markets-in-iphone-6s-launch/
http://www.zdnet.com/article/iphone-6s-6s-plus-in-rose-gold-caters-to-chinese-demand-cook/